Chapter 21 Exposing the True Faces of the Chu Mother and Daughter

Chapter 21: The Unveiling of the Chu Mother and Daughter

Chu Chengling and Jiang Yao stood momentarily speechless, frozen in place, their expressions hidden beneath the heavy helmets.

Chu Xiangxiang, who had just maliciously tattled, also felt a surge of awkwardness. She shot a fierce glare at Hua Diao, clearly displeased that Hua Diao had embarrassed her.

Hua Diao lifted her chin and let out a proud huff.

In the past, the supporting character, Hua Diao, was foolish. Even when she was in the right, she never knew how to assert herself, letting others claim all the credit. But now, she wasn't about to suffer in silence. The truth had to be known by everyone, especially in front of Chu Xiangxiang.

Chu Xiangxiang had always exploited the original Hua Diao's affection for her brother, extorting countless favors—from necklaces worth hundreds of thousands of yuan to milk teas costing mere tens. She took everything without hesitation, yet never failed to shift blame onto Hua Diao, making Chu Chengling despise her even more.

The more Hua Diao recalled the injustices suffered by the original character, the more frustrated she became.

Her gaze hardened. "I'll let Jiang Yao's brother off this time—I keep my word. But Jiang Yao's mother, as the mastermind, won't be so easily forgiven. Otherwise, I won't be able to shake off the fright she gave me."

"Chen Fei, break her arms and legs as I instructed."

Inside the house, Jiang Yao's mother's pupils constricted in terror. She dodged frantically, wailing hysterically, "No, no! Don't break my limbs! Son-in-law, son-in-law, quickly, help me beg for mercy! My dear in-law, you say something too! Didn't you say Hua Diao likes your son the most and listens to you? You knew about my scheme—you can't just abandon me now!"

Chu Chengling, who had been frozen, suddenly turned his head to stare at his mother.

Chu's mother recoiled, quickly and sharply distancing herself. "Don't spout nonsense! When did I ever know about your schemes? Even if Hua Diao couldn't become my daughter-in-law, I'd have no reason to harm her!"

Jiang's mother's eyes filled with venomous resentment. "Fine! You're burning bridges and denying everything now! If I'm going down, you won't keep your facade either! It was you who told me that girl Hua Diao upstairs was using her wealth to cling to your son! You even said you'd already had a complete falling-out with her! You deliberately led me to scheme against her—otherwise, how would I even know who she was or that she was a rich heiress?"

Chu's mother panicked. "Lin Guangmei, have you lost your mind? You messed up and now you're deliberately dragging me into it? I tell you, I never had such thoughts—this is all your own delusion!"

She was seething with rage inwardly, cursing that old hag for not only getting caught but also turning on her.

She hurriedly turned to Chu Chengling, pleading tearfully, "Son, son, believe me! I'd never do such a thing. I'm not that kind of person!"

It didn't matter if others believed her—only her son's trust was crucial. She couldn't let her image as a good mother in his heart be ruined.

Of course, Chu Chengling wanted to believe his mother. And given how deranged and wildly his mother-in-law was acting, her words didn't seem very credible.

But then Jiang Yao, who had been standing quietly beside him, suddenly spoke up urgently. "Cheng, this isn't the time for this! We have to save my mom first—she's been caught, she's been caught...!"

Chu Chengling immediately forgot about his mother, turning to comfort Jiang Yao in a low voice. "Don't worry, Yao. Let's beg our junior for mercy."

"Right, right!" Jiang Yao snapped back to reality and looked at Hua Diao, who held the upper hand, pleading desperately. "Junior, my mother acted foolishly in the heat of the moment. Please, for the sake of our past friendship, spare her this time! I promise I'll keep an eye on her—she'll never do anything to wrong you again!"

Chu Chengling also stood by Jiang Yao's side, speaking solemnly. "Junior, I was the one who wronged you before. What will it take for you to let Yao's mother go?"

Hua Diao's gaze returned to the two of them, and she pouted in dissatisfaction. The entertaining spectacle of two vile creatures turning on each other had been cut short.

Her eyes flickered mischievously. She signaled Chen Fei to pause, then put on a polite smile and said to Jiang Yao,

"Actually, I believe Aunt Jiang's words. Aunt Chu did have a falling-out with me before. Perhaps you didn't know this, but right before your wedding, Aunt Chu told me to fake a suicide to morally bind Chengling into calling off the wedding. But by then, I'd already seen the error of my ways and genuinely wished you two a harmonious union lasting a hundred years, so I refused. Who knew Aunt Chu kept hounding me? She even came to my door, screaming at me for not killing myself. I was so heartbroken—after all, I'd always treated her like my own mother."

"What—?!" Chu Chengling's eyes widened in shock.

Jiang Yao was also stunned, though she recovered faster. Deep down, she'd always sensed that her mother-in-law didn't like her much, but since the woman never showed it outright, she'd pretended not to notice.

She never expected her mother-in-law had schemed something so vicious behind the scenes.

If Hua Diao had really attempted suicide to stop their wedding—given Cheng's kind heart—their marriage might never have happened.

Chu's mother's eyes bulged with rage. Seeing the situation turning against her, she hurriedly defended herself. "No, no! Don't listen to this wretched girl's lies! Son, believe me! I'd never do such a thing!"

Chu Xiangxiang also rushed to her mother's defense. "Yeah! Brother, Mom raised us for over twenty years—you know what kind of person she is! You can't trust this little witch Hua Diao! How long have you even known her?"

"This....." Chu Chengling's face twisted in conflict, his conviction wavering again.

Hua Diao gave the mother-daughter pair a cold glance and snorted. "You know what they say—you can know a person's face but not their heart. It's not like your brother shares the same bed with your mom every night. If she wanted to hide her true nature, it'd be easy. And speaking of which, Chu Xiangxiang, you're no saint either. Back when I had a crush on your brother, you extorted so many favors from me—I kept meticulous records. Tallying it all up, you took over a million from me. When are you planning to pay me back?"

Chu Xiangxiang's face fell. She pouted petulantly and retorted shamelessly, "Those were all gifts you gave me willingly! Why should I pay them back? Besides, you're so rich—what's the big deal about giving me a few things?"

"Who said it was willingly? You conned and manipulated me every time! Whenever you asked for something, you promised to arrange a meeting with your brother for me. But did you ever follow through? Either you said he was busy or in a bad mood and would do it next time. Not once did you actually help! Meanwhile, every time you messed up, you pinned the blame on me, making your brother hate me even more. What, you think you can take money and not have any professional ethics? The fact that I'm not demanding compensation is only out of respect for your brother and sister-in-law. And now you dare refuse to pay me back? Seems I've been too soft on you."

Hua Diao's expression turned icy as she spoke sharply.

Chu Xiangxiang flinched violently, staring at Hua Diao in disbelief. She never expected the girl she'd fooled so easily would turn the tables on her today.

Hua Diao understood her look immediately, and a murderous rage welled up in her chest. She turned to Chen Fei and asked, "You guys in the criminal underworld—how do you usually collect debts? Lop off a finger if they don't pay? Or sell a kidney?"

Chen Fei quickly played along. "First, a finger. If they still refuse, then we sell a kidney."

Hua Diao's face was impassive as she declared coldly, "Then do it. Handle the debt collection for me, and we'll call it even for today's offense."

Chen Fei's eyes lit up at the unexpected boon. He jumped at the chance, assuring her they'd take the job—they were experts at finger-chopping, and even if they weren't, they'd make sure to brush up on their finger-chopping skills immediately.